Cannot be party to eradication of religion: SC on Sabarimala case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that if a person’s fundamental right to freedom of religion is considered higher than the same rights of a group or sect, it could lead to dangerous consequences and the court will not be part of the process of eradicating religion.Bindu Ammini, a lawyer and social activist, asserted her fundamental right to enter the temple after she was roughed up for trying to enter Sabarimala after the 2018 Supreme Court judgment lifted the ban on entry for women in the age group of 10 to 50 years. Indira Jaising, appearing for Bindu and another woman Kanaka Durga, said there was no theological barrier for women to enter any public temple.Religious issues are matters of conscience, not for debate: SCAppearing before Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh, A Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, AG Masih, PB Varale, R Mahadevan and J Bagchi, lawyer Indira Jaising said Bindu did not dispute the ‘naistik brahmachari’ attribute of Ayyappa of Sabarimala but the custom could not be a reason for violating her fundamental right to enter the country. temple.Jaising said the Indian Constitution is hailed as a unique constitution in the world as it highlights the fundamental rights of individuals. “If a woman wants to enter a temple, what legal harm can she cause to anyone? If the court wants to rule otherwise, then let it do it and the world will be watching how the Supreme Court of India formulates jurisprudence related to women’s rights,” Jaising said.Justice Sundresh disagreed with her argument and asked whether an individual’s right to religious freedom under Article 25(1) conflicts with the rights of adherents or groups of followers of a certain sect and whose rights should prevail?“How do we enforce when individual rights infringe on the fundamental rights of others? A right in Article 25, paragraph 1, cannot conflict with another right. If we agree with you, it will lead to dangerous consequences. If each believer worshiped a common god and exercised the freedom of worship in different ways, the consequences would be disastrous for the religion or sect itself. “Justice Nagaratna agreed with him and said: “This will lead to the destruction of religion and we do not want to be a part of it. The question of religion is not a subject that can be decided by the courts or the legislature. It cannot be a matter of debate as it is a matter of conscience.”Justice Amanullah asked whether the court should do away with a practice or custom that had been established over centuries to ensure that a person had to enter a temple despite knowing that it would hurt the religious sentiments of the majority of the followers of the sect. The debate will continue on Thursday.